


somehow, i knew it was you

by soundbadger23



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:00:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23316544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soundbadger23/pseuds/soundbadger23
Summary: Annabeth has a problem: she's kind of in love with her best friend.Percy has a problem: he's kind of oblivious.Mutual pining and shenanigans ensue.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 159





	somehow, i knew it was you

**Author's Note:**

> hey! this is my first fic so any feedback is appreciated :) hope you enjoy! i had a lot of fun writing it.

“What movie do you guys want to watch?” Piper called from the living room.

Nobody answered. All her friends were in the kitchen, some getting drunk, and they were too loud to hear her. Her boyfriend Jason was mixing what he called an “Amazing Grace.” The recipe, he claimed, was a family secret. Percy and Leo booed.

“We all know it’s just vodka and Kool-Aid, dumbass,” Leo snorted. He took a cup anyway.

Annabeth was with Hazel, off to the side, rolling their eyes at the boys’ antics. Hazel’s boyfriend was usually there, too, but Frank had work. It wasn’t easy being a broke college student.

“Guys! Movie!” Piper yelled louder.

“Joker!” Percy yelled back, bursting into laughter upon seeing Annabeth’s distasteful look. “What, do you have a better idea?” He asked her with a teasing grin.

“I don’t know, _anything_ else?” Annabeth said exaggeratedly. She paused. Scrunched her nose a little, thinking. “We haven’t watched a romcom in a while.”

A couple of the boys groaned, but Piper’s face lit up. “That’s true! I heard there’s a new one on Netflix that’s pretty good.”

“Any Netflix romcom isn’t—is not good,” Jason piped up, slurring his words a little. “However,” he pointed at Piper, raising an eyebrow. “It would be fun to make fun of. I’m in.”

“Glad to have your approval, babe,” Piper said sarcastically. She clicked play and settled into the couch.

The others migrated from the kitchen to join her. Of course, Jason sat next to her, slinging an arm around her shoulders. Leo sat on Piper’s other side, opting to cuddle with his solo cup. Hazel took the last remaining chair, forcing Annabeth and Percy to sit on the floor. Annabeth wasn’t enthused about the hardwood, but didn’t mind the proximity to him.

The movie began, and it was clear from the start that at the end, the girl would realize that her hotshot boyfriend wasn’t worth her time, and the perfect guy for her had been her best friend all along. Annabeth wasn’t bothered by the predictability. Romcoms were a guilty pleasure of hers, and she sometimes enjoyed indulging their clichés. She sighed, unconsciously glancing over at Percy.

He caught her eye and gave her a crooked smile. “Great pick. I totally can’t tell that Laura and Kevin are going to suck face at the end.”

“That’s a nice way to put it,” Annabeth snorted. “And hey, I didn’t pick the movie, just the genre. I needed something mindless after that design exam on Thursday.”

“I guess,” Percy said. He started to speak again, but Leo threw a pillow at him.

“Would you guys shut up? Jack just asked Laura to prom!” Leo was perched on the edge of his seat. Annabeth couldn’t tell if he was kidding. She looked further behind her and saw Jason and Piper had fallen asleep on each other. _Gross_ , she thought with some fondness. It was hard to be single when you were friends with a perfect couple like them.

Percy nudged her with his elbow playfully, pointing at the screen. “Kevin looks kind of mad. Watch, I bet he’s gonna start talking shit on Jack.”

_Kevin scowled as Laura gushed to him about Jack’s promposal. He slammed his hands on the table and stood up. “Since when do you care about prom so much, huh? This isn’t you! The Laura I know would rather eat chicken nuggets in sweatpants than wear a dress to some dance!” He scoffed, tears forming in his eyes. “Forget it. Go hang out with your boyfriend,” he spat as he stalked away._

Annabeth turned to Percy. “Close guess,” she said with a smirk. “But it was the classic ‘you’re not like other girls’ speech. He’s the only one who understands her, you see. She’ll think back to this moment later, when she’s at the dance with the wrong guy. She’ll apologize to Jack for wasting his time, then run out of the gym to find Kevin.”

“We’ll see,” Percy huffed, but he should trust her expertise. He was one of the few people she had told about her affinity for this type of movie.

Of course, she was right, Annabeth thought with satisfaction.

_An indie song came to a crescendo as Laura and Kevin confessed their feelings to each other, sealing their love with a kiss. Laura pulled away breathlessly. “I can’t believe I was missing what was right in front of me the whole time.” They danced as the screen faded to black._

As the credits rolled, Jason groaned, stretching out his arms. “Cinematic excellence,” he said blearily.

“Were you even watching it?” Hazel challenged.

“Were you?” he shot back, looking at the phone in her hand.

“Yeah, okay, I’m taking you home,” Piper intervened, taking her boyfriend’s arm. “I’ll be back sometime tomorrow,” she told Annabeth.

Annabeth nodded at her roommate as she ushered Jason out the door, followed by Leo and Hazel, who both thanked her for hosting. Annabeth was aware that left only her and Percy. She turned to find him already looking at her.

“Will I see you at Olympic this week?” he asked. It was a weekly tradition of theirs to go to a local coffee shop to chat and study.

“Of course,” she replied simply, drawing him into a hug. It wasn’t unusual for them, being such close friends, but Annabeth could feel her blood humming. “I’ll text you,” she mumbled into his shirt.

He left without further fanfare and Annabeth wondered if he felt the same. She didn’t want to ruin their friendship by confessing unrequited feelings, but there seemed to be a weird tension between them lately. It was something to think about, she supposed, while she cleaned up the kitchen. It was frustrating to be in this sort of situation since she usually relied on logic to solve her problems. If only there was someone who could help.

*

When Piper came home the following morning, Annabeth was leaned against the counter in an attempt to seem casual. “Hey, Pipes, want some coffee?” She waved her mug at her roommate.

Piper narrowed her eyes. “Sure. Do you need something? You only call me Pipes when you need something.”

“Well, yeah. Just some advice about…things,” she chickened out at the last second. “I like this guy, but I’m not sure he feels the same way, and I really want to tell him how I feel, but we’re also friends and I don’t want to ruin that, and—”

“Woah,” Piper cut her off, eyes widened. “How come you’ve never mentioned him before? You know I live for this stuff.” Her voice was soothing, and Annabeth felt herself relax. “What do you like about him?”

“I dunno, a lot of things,” Annabeth avoided Piper’s insistent gaze. “He’s simultaneously really hot and really cute, which isn’t fair. He’s supportive, and funny, but also kind of ridiculous. He makes me happy.” _I’m kind of in love with him_ , she didn’t say.

“Oh my god, you really like this guy, huh? Is it someone I know?” Piper said suggestively, a sharp twinkle in her eye.

“I- maybe…” Annabeth mumbled. She finally made eye contact, then snapped, “Okay, fine. It’s Percy.”

Piper looked, dare she say, _triumphant_ , at the confession, but seemed to be holding back her excitement. “You don’t say,” she said pseudo-casually.

“What? Did he say something about me?”

“No, but come on, Beth. It’s pretty obvious that you guys are into each other. The only question was who would admit it first.” She grinned. “Guess Jason owes me some money.”

“Shut up, you were _not_ taking bets on this,” Annabeth groaned. “Besides, I think you’re wrong. We’re friends, and that’s all he sees me as.”

Piper merely raised an eyebrow. “If you say so…but if you don’t make a move, I think you’ll miss out on something great.”

The rest of the morning passed quietly. Annabeth quartered herself in her room under the pretense of studying, when in reality she was contemplating what Piper had said. She knew there was a possibility that her friend was right, but how great were the chances? She tapped her pencil against her chin in thought, then had an idea.

She created a table on her laptop and titled it “Requited?” The left column would show evidence for Percy feeling the same way, and the one on the right would show evidence of the contrary. After about an hour of work, the left contained examples like, “blushed when he complimented my hair,” and the right had things like, “expressed interest in the Olympic barista.” There didn’t seem to be a huge difference between the number of examples on either side, she noted with irritation, wondering if there was a way to quantify the _significance_ of them instead. Surely saying they were “best friends” carried more dooming weight than glancing at another woman.

She huffed and closed the laptop. She knew she was being ridiculous, but the concept of just _asking_ him did not seem like a viable option. Maybe a pros and cons list would be more helpful. It was nearly impossible to guess how he felt, but she could determine how badly their friendship would be hurt if she did confess her feelings. She sighed, opening up her Mac again.

*

Annabeth arrived a bit later than usual to Olympic Coffee that week, Percy noticed. His concern grew when he saw the dark circles under her eyes.

“Rough week?” he guessed.

She nodded, giving him an exhausted smile. “This’ll pick me up, though,” she said, swirling her espresso drink.

“What, just the coffee?” Percy pretended to be hurt. “My wonderful company won’t help at all? Damn, Annabeth, I thought our friendship meant more to you.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Her smile turned into more of a grimace. “You’re right,” she said faux-chirpily, taking her biology notebook out of her bag. “Since you’re such a good friend, you want to help me study for my bio test?”

“Sure,” Percy agreed, though he could tell that her mood was still altered. “It’s just intro stuff, right? I took that back in freshman year. Let’s see what you’re looking at.”

Foundations of Biology was one of the things Percy understood better than Annabeth. He was studying marine biology, and that was a prerequisite for a lot of his other classes. She was only taking it to fulfill a natural science requirement, and hated every minute.

“Why did we waste two weeks learning about Mendel if all this other, harder shit exists?” Annabeth complained. “I need more time to learn about linked genes than fucking Punnett squares.”

“I know, it’s kind of ridiculous,” Percy said, hoping that agreeing would soothe her. “At least there’s math involved in this section. You like math.”

She looked offended. “Statistics is hardly math, Seaweed Brain. Give me some calculus and then we’ll talk.”

Percy grinned at the use of his nickname. “Sorry the world doesn’t cater to your preferences, Wise Girl,” he teased. He reached across the table to give her hand a squeeze. “Come on, you’ve got this.”

She retracted her hand rather quickly, Percy thought with a strange surge of displeasure. She had been closed off lately, and he couldn’t figure out why. He had originally thought it was stress-related, as Annabeth tended to isolate herself when she was feeling that way, but he hadn’t noticed a difference in her treatment of anyone but him. Did he say something stupid? Unlikely, she wouldn’t hesitate to call him out. Did she meet someone?

Ah. That made sense. He was her only single male friend. She might want to distance herself so she didn’t send the wrong signals. Who was this guy anyway, and why had Annabeth never mentioned him? Probably someone from her design class, an absolute brain genius with perfect blond hair who could make her laugh. Percy realized he was gripping his pencil unnecessarily tightly, and loosened his fingers.

“Got any plans this weekend?” he asked in what he hoped was a casual tone.

Annabeth tilted her head. “Nothing besides the movie night at yours and Jason’s tomorrow. I’ll be done studying for a while, thankfully. Why?”

“Just curious,” Percy shrugged, kicking himself for asking such a fruitless question. It should’ve been, ‘Made any new friends lately’ or even a more straightforward, ‘How’s dating going.’ Objectively, he knew he was interested in the topic a bit more than was normal, but decided that was something to unpack later.

Across the table, Annabeth put her school supplies back into her bag. “I’ve got to get going,” she said apologetically. “It’s almost five thirty and if I’m not home soon, Piper might try to cook again.” They shared a wry grin. “Thanks for your help today.”

“No problem,” Percy replied. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

*

“Hey man, what kind of soda should I get?”

“I don’t care, whatever we usually get,” Percy answered absentmindedly, cradling his phone in his shoulder as he dried dishes.

“I wanted Pepsi, but they only have that weird zero-sugar Pepsi,” Jason said.

“Then get Coke, no big deal.” Percy put the last dish away, hoping Jason wouldn’t go on another rant about his devout commitment to the Pepsi brand.

Jason took a breath. “Perce, you know I’m a Pepsian—“

“Hey, could you also get some of those popcorn chips? They’re in a red bag,” Percy interjected. “Annabeth likes them.”

“Sure. I’ll be back in a few.”

“Thanks.” Percy hung up.

He took a look around their apartment to see if anything else needed to be cleaned before they had company. His eyes landed on a photo of himself, Jason, Annabeth, and Piper taken during their freshman year. They were all still tan from summer, their arms awkwardly around each other in a show of early friendship. Jason had made a point to stand next to Piper, Percy remembered with a smile. The two had already started flirting with each other hardcore, which often left him and Annabeth to entertain themselves. Making fun of their lovesick roommates definitely brought them closer together. Percy was struck with the odd realization that to a stranger, this would look like a picture of two couples.

The front door burst open.

“Honey, I’m home,” Jason trilled, carrying more plastic bags than Percy thought humanly possible.

“We’re only having a few people over,” he laughed. “What’s all this?”

“Frank is coming this time and you _know_ that boy can eat,” Jason said seriously.

Percy helped him unload the groceries, keeping one bag of chips out to snack on.

“Oh, you know those Popcorners you asked me to get? Those are in the organic section, so they’re way overpriced. I got a couple bags anyway, because I’m trying to help you out with the Annabeth situation, but—”

“What situation?” Percy asked. “Is she mad at me? I was getting a weird vibe from her the other day.”

Jason blinked. “Uh. No, I don’t think she’s mad at you. I meant that getting her favorite chips would be a good move. Shows that you listen to her, you know? Girls appreciate that stuff.”

“Yeah, I guess they do,” Percy agreed, very confused. “What does that have to do with Annabeth, exactly?”

His friend smiled and rolled his eyes. “Come on, Perce. You and I both know you like her.” Seeing the look on Percy’s face, he amended, “ _I_ know you like her.”

“I do?” he said dumbly. What a concept. The gears in his head were jammed.

“Shit, _do_ you? I figured of all people you’d be the one to know.”

The doorbell rang and Jason got up to answer it. “Sorry, forget I said anything,” he mumbled, face morphing into a grin as he greeted Frank and Hazel at the door.

Percy shook his head and plugged his phone into a speaker. He picked a random Spotify playlist and hit shuffle, desperately trying to clear his mind for the party. He needed some time to think, and it unfortunately, it would have to wait.

*

It was shaping up to be a fun night, Annabeth supposed. The group had decided to forgo the usual movie-watching and play games instead. So far, Frank had won charades (“You _must_ practice that eagle impression!”), Hazel Monopoly, and nobody Mad Gab. As it turns out, having dyslexia makes reading and interpreting nonsensical phrases very difficult. Their next pick, Taboo, would hopefully be easier.

Annabeth was put on a team with Percy, Leo, and Hazel, which left Jason, Piper, and Frank on the other. Since Jason and Piper knew each other so well—intimately, one could say—they would be difficult to beat, but Annabeth figured since her team had an extra player, it was fair. Plus, she and Percy had been friends just as long.

Piper went first, and Annabeth saw that her card was _Coca-Cola_. She couldn’t use words like _drink_ , _soda_ , or _Pepsi_ in her description. Predictably, she targeted her clue at Jason. “You refuse to consume this beverage because you’re too loyal to its competitor. Leo has a cup of it right now.”

“Coke!” Jason guessed, and Piper picked up another card, _Internet_.

“We all use this daily. Um, Al Gore claims he invented it. It’s used to look at things on the worldwide spider’s home. Come on, guys!”

The timer buzzed, and Piper groaned as she handed the deck of cards to Annabeth.

“Oh, like _web_ ,” Frank realized too late.

Annabeth drew her first card, _wind_. Her forbidden terms were _blow, autumn, invisible, trees,_ and _kite_. She clicked the timer.

“This is a weather phenomenon that we can feel but not see. You need it to go sailing,” she said with a pointed look at Percy, the marine expert. “It—”

“Wind?” he guessed, grinning when she confirmed he was right.

The rest of the game passed similarly. It was a close match, but ultimately Annabeth’s team won, which satisfied her competitive streak. Most of her clues were guessed by Percy, and vice versa. Their obvious connection sent a pang through her.

She had decided not to tell him how she felt, because there simply wasn’t enough evidence to say he reciprocated. She couldn’t risk ruining their friendship over feelings that might go away. She had told Piper about her resolution, and to her credit, her friend had stopped making suggestive faces whenever Annabeth and Percy interacted. However, that didn’t stop her from the occasional tease.

“Annabeth, look! They have those popcorn chips that you like,” Piper said innocently. “Jason, did you buy these?”

“Upon Percy’s insistence, yeah,” he responded, catching on. “He said we just _had_ to get them. ‘They’re Annabeth’s favorite, Jason. Oh, I don’t care that they’re _four dollars a bag_ , they’ll make her happy and that’s all I care about.’”

“Shut up,” Annabeth grumbled, snatching the bag and going into the living room where the rest of the group had gathered.

She sat next to Percy on the couch, offering him some chips as Leo and Hazel argued over what to watch on TV. They eventually landed on Friends, which sparked a discussion on which character everyone in the group was. It was quickly determined that Leo was Phoebe, Annabeth was Monica, and Frank was Joey.

“I guess that leaves me as Rachel,” Piper said somewhat distastefully. “I think you’re Chandler, Jason.”

“Oh, come on, don’t make me be _Ross_ ,” Percy complained. “He sucks! Make Hazel be Ross.”

“I’ll be the couch, thanks,” Hazel scoffed.

Annabeth sat back and ate her chips as the debate continued. In that instant, she felt at home. Her friends acted like this often, but it was all in good fun. She grinned as Percy’s voice went up in pitch, begging someone to confirm he was nothing like Ross.

“I don’t know, you do like dinosaurs,” she teased.

He gave her a playful scowl and snatched the chips out of her hand. “Don’t say stuff like that,” he groused.

“Percy Jackson, you give those back!”

She grabbed at the bag, but he held it slightly out of her reach, causing her to lean forward. She was about to make a second attempt, but saw he had an odd expression on his face, somewhere between discomfort and panic. She realized she was gripping his thigh and quickly moved it. He handed back the bag.

“It’s almost empty anyway,” he said sheepishly. “Um, I’m gonna go get another drink.”

Annabeth watched him walk away, wondering where she went wrong. Things had seemed fine between them the rest of the night; it was only when she touched him that he reacted weirdly. The only explanation she could think of was that he had figured out her crush and it made him uncomfortable. She hadn’t been trying to flirt with him in that instance, but she could see how it could be construed that way. Or maybe she was overthinking the whole situation and simply misread his face.

It became obvious that wasn’t the case when he returned to the room and sat significantly further away from her on the couch. They didn’t talk much the rest of the night, relying on their friends to buffer the conversation. Finally, it came to a close.

“Hey, thanks for having us. I’ll see you at Olympic this week?” Annabeth asked awkwardly, putting on her coat.

“Yeah,” he offered her a quick smile. “Thursday?”

“Thursday.”

*

Percy sighed, rubbing his temple as he cleaned off the kitchen counter. He could feel a headache coming on, and it had nothing to do with the music Jason was blasting in the next room. The time had come to think about Annabeth, of course, and his feelings for her were frustratingly ambiguous. He had done his best to act normally around her earlier that night, but she might have noticed something was off.

Percy was now hyperaware of her touch. Her hand on his leg had sent his brain into panic mode; he couldn’t decide if it was part of a normal, friendly interaction or if she was flirting; if she was flirting, did he like it? And so on. It was a relief to leave the room for a minute. Reflecting, he decided that she hadn’t been flirting. If anything, she seemed to be avoiding his touch lately. That was one of the reasons he suspected she was seeing someone.

Wait, there was something. When he thought about her dating someone else, he felt…something. Not quite upset, or angry. It could be jealousy, he considered. Or just being protective of her. So that _might_ not be platonic. That didn’t mean he was in love with her. His heart rate increased.

He posed himself another question: How did he feel when she walked into a room? Happy, he supposed. _As one should be at the sight of their best friend_ , the voice in his head countered. Perhaps a better question was how it compared to when a girl he liked walked into a room. Well, his last crush was Calypso, a girl from a botany elective he had taken a year before. When she came into class, it was a mixture of excitement and nerves, self-consciously fixing his hair or rubbing out a stain on his shirt. With Annabeth, it was different. Happy but relaxed. He didn’t have to try to impress her; she already knew his whole self, and accepted him anyway. He was totally comfortable in her presence and could enjoy every second as a result.

That’s what friends are for, he thought, visibly relaxing. So he probably wasn’t into her like _that_. He cursed Jason for putting the idea in his head to begin with. It had seemed so _possible_ , though. Percy shook his head. He couldn’t ruin their friendship by thinking about Annabeth romantically. It would be best to put it out of his mind.

*

Okay, putting it out of his mind was proving harder than Percy originally thought. He and Annabeth had met at the coffee shop, as usual, and she was helping him with his statistics homework, as usual, but something was different. He was more observant of things that would typically escape his eye. Like the way her golden hair fell in front of her face, even when she tucked it behind her ear. Or how her smile started curving up on the left side first. It was stupid, really, because he had seen her with her hair down before, had seen her smile before, but it was with fresh eyes.

She caught him staring and scrunched up her nose. “What? Whipped cream on my nose again?” She looked down at her Frappuccino suspiciously.

“No,” Percy said, feeling himself redden. “You just look nice today.” Where did _that_ come from? It was true, yes, but also a weird thing to say. They rarely commented on each other’s appearances.

“Oh,” she said, sounding surprised. “Thanks. Uh, do you need any more help with your assignment? You haven’t been complaining as much as usual.”

He was grateful for the teasing. “No, I think I’ve got it. And I do not complain, I _observe_. Like, wow, this problem is stupid and the professor assigns too much homework. It’s just the facts.”

“Right,” Annabeth said sarcastically. Abruptly, she gasped and sat up straighter. “Oh my god, did you hear that Leo is dating someone? Or, sort of. They’re not ‘official’ yet.”

“Really? He hasn’t told me a thing. How did you find out?”

“Piper, of course. She caught them on a date a couple days ago. Cornered Leo afterward,” Annabeth grinned. Left, right. “She wasn’t able to get a lot of information about the girl, though.”

“Interesting,” Percy said, eyebrows raised. “Hopefully she’s good for him.” He wasn’t sure what else to say; Leo went through girlfriends fairly quickly and he didn’t expect this one to stick around either. Not to speak ill of his friend, but Leo had a strong personality only a few could match in a relationship. He was saved from continuing when Annabeth’s phone buzzed.

“It’s Piper,” she said, reading her screen. “Ooh, what a coincidence, some more details about Leo’s mystery girl.”

Percy hummed in response and jotted down a note to remind himself to finish his homework later. Not only was it unspeakably boring, but he kept getting distracted by a certain girl across the table. He watched as her face turned from a look of interest to a slight frown.

“Percy, she says her name is Calypso. Isn’t that the girl you…” she trailed off, looking at him warily.

“The girl I used to like? Probably, it’s an unusual name,” he said. Suddenly it was very important for him to clarify that that was no longer true. “I don’t like her anymore, obviously. We barely talked, even when we had class together. She just wasn’t the one for me, I guess. So it’s in the past.” He nodded firmly, then felt ridiculous. Simply _one_ of those sentences would’ve sufficed.

Oddly, Annabeth didn’t seem to mind. She said, “Okay,” barely suppressing a smile, _probably at your expense_ , his brain added. “Well, she’s an ecology major, member of the gardening club. She’s originally from Europe, and lives with her sister off-campus.” She looked up at Percy. “Anything else you want to know? Social security number, or something? I’m sure Piper could tell you.”

“No, that’s good,” he laughed. “I’m just trying to picture them together. Calypso’s very calm, and Leo is very _not_.”

“Maybe they’ll balance each other out,” she speculated.

Percy noticed that it was after five-thirty. “Do you have to get going soon? It’s almost dinnertime. I don’t want to be the cause of any Piper kitchen incidents.” He said it jovially, but was loathe to leave her company so soon. Against his better judgment, Percy could feel himself falling for her, just a little.

“No, luckily for me, Piper has plans tonight. She and Jason are going out for date night. I’m surprised you didn’t know, considering they’re planning on coming back to yours.”

“Oh god,” he said, horrified. “It’s a _romantic evening_? Our walls are _so_ thin. I can’t believe Jason forgot to tell me. I could’ve made other arrangements, or just bought earplugs, I—”

“You can stay at my place,” Annabeth shrugged, not quite meeting his eyes.

Now that sounded nice, and Percy said as much. They made plans to have dinner together, and then he could sleep on the couch if Piper didn’t come home. He went back to his apartment briefly, to pick up his overnight things, and paused on his way out the door. He had the feeling this night could be a turning point for his and Annabeth’s relationship. After spending the day with her, he could no longer deny he wanted them to be more than friends, and despite his previous obliviousness, he sensed that feeling had been building for a long time. Never did he think the day would come where he could say he was in love with his best friend—but here it was.

*

What the hell was Annabeth thinking? She cursed herself for inviting Percy to spend the night—and for offering him dinner, considering her fridge was almost empty. Unless they wanted to eat expired pickle and cheese sandwiches, she was going to have to ask him to pick up something on the way over. She made a quick call to his cell.

“Hey, I totally forgot we didn’t go grocery shopping this week, so we have no food. Could you pick up McDonalds or something for us?”

“Sure,” he answered. “Be there in a few.”

Annabeth waited in the kitchen for him to arrive. She couldn’t decide what to do with her hands. Really, her whole body felt awkward and useless just standing around. Her imagination was running wild with scenarios that could happen: she could change her mind and confess her feelings for him, and then he could respond in earnest, or he could answer with disdain. Maybe _he_ would be the first to tell her he was in love with her, and they’d end up cuddled on the couch, _or in her bed_ , her mind added suggestively.

There was a knock at the door. “It’s Uber Eats, come get it!”

She opened it to find Percy standing there with a crooked grin on his face. “A delivery, huh?” she asked, trying not to smile in return. “Come in, goof.”

“So, as you can see, I went to Panera,” he said, setting the paper bag on the counter with a flourish.

“The ‘Ner,” Annabeth commented wisely. “Good choice.”

“I got you that bacon turkey bravo—without tomato, of course,” he added when she moved to peel up the top bun.

“Thanks.” She was impressed that he remembered her usual order. If she wasn’t mistaken, he would’ve opted for the mac and cheese. Sure enough, that’s what was in the second container he pulled from the bag.

As they ate, they chatted about miscellaneous things that hadn’t come up at Olympic Coffee earlier. At some point, their knees started touching under the table, but neither of them moved, Annabeth noticed with a thrill. God, sitting here with him, talking about nothing and everything…it just felt right. She wondered if he was getting the same vibe, as he leaned in even closer to tell her a story about a stunt he and Jason had pulled their freshman year.

“So then, he tells the professor it’s because of _daylight savings_ , and I’m standing there trying not to laugh because it was fall, and we actually _gained_ an hour. I mean, of course the prof didn’t believe us. He made us do this ridiculously hard supplementary essay so we didn’t fail the class.”

Annabeth laughed, then questioned, “How come I didn’t hear about this before? We were friends at that point.”

“Yeah, well, Jason didn’t want the story to get out because he wanted Piper to think he was a good student,” Percy snorted. “Now she knows the truth.”

“That is so on-brand for him. He really did the most to impress her. Little did he know, she liked him just as much. They could’ve saved so much time by just telling each other.”

“Yeah…” Percy agreed, suddenly distant.

“You want to watch a movie? It’s only nine. They probably won’t be back until late, if they come back at all,” Annabeth said, scrunching her nose up.

They settled into the couch, and she was reminded of the last time, when she had made him uncomfortable by touching him too much. As a courtesy, she left about six inches of space between them, desperately wishing he would choose to close the gap. They chose to watch a coming-of-age movie that had been popular during their high school days.

She was doing her best to focus on the TV screen, staring straight ahead except to answer Percy’s comments about the movie, when she felt a weight drop onto her shoulder. He had fallen asleep. He had fallen asleep _on her_. Annabeth’s brain stopped working for a moment, then she decided she might as well enjoy it while it lasted. Hesitantly, she leaned over and gave his forehead a kiss. She was content to stay still as long as possible, but eventually her arm started to go numb under his weight. Carefully, she withdrew it and placed it around his shoulders. Not really anywhere else to put it, she thought to herself with a sense of guilty pleasure.

Several minutes later, she tensed as he seemed to wake up for a minute. He shifted, and she thought with disappointment that he was going to sit up, but instead he semi-consciously wrapped his arms around her. _Shit_. Shit. She tried to calm her heartbeat, certain he could hear it through her shirt. This was somehow both the best and worst thing she had ever experienced. The sheer joy of being this close to him was almost overwhelmed by the anticipation of him waking up and jumping away from her.

She didn’t have to wait long. After the movie ended and so had its credits, the silence seemed to wake him up.

He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut as if trying to get one more drop of sleep. They opened. She saw the realization strike him, and he sat up, and was he blushing? Interesting.

“Hey,” he said gruffly, and _oh my god is that how he sounds every morning?_ “Um…sorry about that. I didn’t think I was that tired. You made a nice pillow, though.”

“You drool in your sleep,” Annabeth decided to say. She bit her lip. “I don’t mind, though. You’re warm.” She felt a wave of mortification threaten to wash over her, but Percy just gave her a small smile, accepting her response. Accepting her, like he always did.

“Actually…” she started to say, then paused. Could she do this? A single look at Percy’s soft expression told her yes. “I was thinking about what we were talking about earlier, about Jason and Piper, and how they were really stupid in the beginning to waste their time in uncertainty instead of just taking the leap. And, god, I don’t know, you know my Panera order. And my favorite kind of chip. I…”

She faltered, confident she was butchering it, but continued anyway. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m in love with you, Percy,” she finished in a whisper, unable to look at him.

She was startled when he put a hand on her cheek. “God, me too,” he breathed, and then he was kissing her. It was better than anything she could’ve imagined. She twined her arms around his neck and drew him closer.

They broke apart, breathless, and Percy held her tight, her chin resting on his shoulder. She felt him shaking with repressed laughter.

“What?” she asked, smiling like an idiot.

“How long have you known? Because I just figured it out this week,” he said, collapsing into laughter at himself.

She detached herself from him, wearing a shocked expression. “Last _week_? I’ve been dealing with this for _years_ , Seaweed Brain.”

“Gotta make up for lost time then, huh, Wise Girl?” he said in her ear before kissing her again. And again. And again.

She was in his lap by the time they were startled apart by Annabeth’s phone buzzing. She paused to read the message, then grinned up at Percy. His hair was a mess. He looked like he had been snogged within an inch of his life, and it was a good look. “Jason’s got food poisoning. Which is terrible. But Piper’s not coming back tonight so she can take care of him.”

“That _is_ terrible,” he agreed. “What ever will we do?”

“Maybe we could send him an edible arrangement,” Annabeth gasped as Percy tightened his arms around her waist. “In the meantime, I’m sure we can keep ourselves busy.”

“I like the sound of that,” he agreed.

*

**Author's Note:**

> i love these goofs, will definitely be writing more of them in the future :) again, all comments are welcome!


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